Thursday, 25 October 2012

INSTAGRIM

So recently I've become rather addicted to instagram. Whilst being stuck on the painting/collage front, I seem to have had no problem in being creative with small square images.

The manor has been a wonderful source of potential beautiful images.

Well, I'm quite pleased with them anyway. I do seem to have developed a taste for the gothic, must be the time of year!

How completely crap of me not to have shown you this brooch which I vastly improved (it was a tacky gold scarf clip with the stone missing that Mike had found in the street)

Last week I received a parcel of wonderfulness from Edie Pop, I'd bought one of her prints and I had to wait for some poster clips to arrive before I could put it up. *I'm also on the look out for a frame that'll fit it, it's an irregular size*

Ouija Board:

Being so beautiful and generous she also sent me

An original of Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and some stickers (need a frame for the original ASAP)

Today was my Mum's birthday and we had a trip to Witney - a place Miss Magpie had visited a couple of months ago. I liked it but wasn't particularly in love with the place - especially as I heard this in Oxfam:

An old woman was complaining that a Paul Smith shirt hadn't sold for £29.99, her reasoning was "people still expect a bargain don't they?"

Well yes we do actually and we can find them, not in awful places like that though.

On a whim we popped into a Teddy Bear shop - now - I know at least two of you hate stuffed animals so you can skip ahead, although this wasn't the usual cutesy nightmares you hate, there were some rather strange and adorable creations!

Vix and Helga look away now....

I picked up these bizarro postcards!

I was attracted to some very strange little bears, when I pointed them out to the shop owner, she said they were Japanese - big surprise that I liked them best. One had wooden blocks for arms - he can be seen in the first photo on the middle shelf of the green cabinet!

Then we visited Minster Lovell, which is so chocolate boxy you could easily explode with the quaintness.

We wandered round the church and the ruined manor house - the weather was definitely nothing like the above - it was damp cold, foggy, with the leaves on the trees ranging in colour from mottled green to bright red and the grass still green but mixed with dark brown mud, there was hardly any noise apart from the cawing of crows. So all in all very atmospheric!

There seemed to be a bit of a 300 year long graffiti epidemic in area, this is the earliest vandalism I found. I show you some more at the end of the post

So that was my day. I should be asleep but I've had a run in with a delicious Indian meal and can't sleep.

Here's some of the graffiti I found in Witney - it'd been there since the 70s

Do Casuals kill Mods? I doubt they'd want the blood on their sports jackets.

30
comments:

Incredible photos. Clearly your expression has gone into this form of media for a while. The goth vibe is ON, and I love it. Funny the sense of history between where we live - here a crumbling manor house would be an '80s leaking condo.

Frigging hell missus! Once again, this post is full of stuff I love. That church, those gravestones, the doll heads and of course our Edie's art. Wow she is talented. I don't do ouija boards and the whole supernatural thing but I do love Edie's art and I really love Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. I do love Instagram but I don't have a public profile as I find the concept a bit scary. There is always a goth in me that doesn't need to try so hard to get out. This time of year is the perfect breeding ground. I blinkin love October. I want to run around those ruins with you and look at the vintage graffiti and I also want your boots and your tweed jacket and your stripey top! xxx

This is the most visually delicious post ever! I had no idea Edie had prints of this one, its my absolute favorite! She really spoiled you with tat original yum! I think you have really nailed what Instagram is about, I love your pictures! You always seem to be doing something I'd love to join in on! Thanks for sharing sweetie!Lots of love!

Dearest Clare,Haha, I had NO idea of instagram and got the overall idea of it from pc. Really great photos and happy birthday to yor mother♡♡♡ She must have had a lovely tie with you, lucky her to have a sweet daughter.I laved to see all the pictures you showed us here today(*^_^*) I do hope you can find the lovely frame for the print.

Sending you lots of love and hugs from Japan to my friend in England, xoxo Miyako*

Instagrim!! Bahaha! I'm amused!They're great pix,if I ever get hold of a flash phone (that is,if I ever I stop being so tightarse) I wanna play Instagrim too! I love a bit of Goth vibe,you'd think I;d egt more into Halloween...must try harder!LOVE what you did with the scarf ring,inspired!Edie is a frigging Genius/Goddess!Thank you for warning me to avert mine eyes,I did and skimmed quickly pass to the money shots,which are fabularse!Love your little jacket,you look like you wanna play ride a cockhorse! (Ooooer)XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

You must come to Pontypridd, I have a house to show you. A lady I worked with collects teddies just like the ones here. You'd love her house, I know it. I'm impressed with your instagram work, very cinematic imaged, like things you'd see in an art house film. You just have to post that incredible graffiti to pictures of walls.com I've posted a few of Pontypridd's finest scribbles on there.

Gorgeous Instagram pictures, I usually hate them 'cos they're all half drunk cups of coffee, cake crumbs and irritating shoes but yours are interesting and lovely!Edie's art is incredible and what a fabulously generous gesture to send you those beautiful extras, she's as kind-hearted as she is beautiful and talented. The teddies are freaking me out, I think I'd combust with rage if I was in that place for long.Love you in those boots looking all dreamy and pretty.Casuals were vicious little bastards with their Sergio Tacchini and bowl haircuts! xxxx

I particularly like your pictures of the 'modern' buildings at the start of this post .. urban yumminess. No surprise that I like bears and soft toys, I have lots of, ahem, vintage/retro ones. The mouse is especially cute.

Minster Lovell looks glorious, especially that ruin and the graffiti is superb!

ps - spell check pointed out I had initially written Monster instead of Minster, hehe.

Your photos are beautiful!I like a lot the Minster Lovell's ones, they are evocative and the effects you added make them look like paintings, the graffiti are so cool!Thank you for the lovely work you did for my print, it's better than the original and maybe next time I'll display the original somewhere I should use flowers to frame it!I love the Teddy Bears Hell and the postcards are odd and cute at the same time!You look amazing in your outfit, the jacket and the striped shirt seem perfect for your photographic journey!Love

Now that's how to do Instagram! I'm with Vix...I get fed up of seeing photos of peoples coffee. I do love a ruin too, I'd like a wander about those arches. It is a proper Gothic time of year. Edie's work is stunning.xxxxx

You remind me of last week when Himself was having a rant on the train about instagram always being pictures of cake or people's dinner and the girl in front gave him SUCH a look! Clearly she had either just sent such a picture or that was all she ever sent lol.

I absolutely love the teddy postcards, I haven't been in that shop for years now. Yeah Oxfam in Witney was pants, overpriced and up it's own arse!

Great pictures, I'm ALMOST tempted to get a smart phone if they can work that well! Love the reworked scarf clip too. I've used www.eframe.co.uk in the past for custom picture frames, good service and fairly reasonable prices too.

Enjoyed this post so much! But I always enjoy reading your posts, Clare! Those old buildings amaze me. America is so young compared to other parts of the world. My ancestry is heavily Scottish, so I hope to get there some day, but I love seeing pictures of England, Ireland, Wales, etc. So much history! I am someone who loves stuffed animals. No, I don't want 1000 of them, but I can't help but rescue them sometimes! I see the one with block arms! Really cute.

Minster Lovell is a hop skip and jump from my parents' place so I have visited for a sketch or two before. What a brilliant building this is with all its nooks and crannies. Despite it being on the tourist trail I did feel it was a hidden find.

You do have an eye, dear Clare. Doesn't Clair mean eye in some old language? No, clarity, I think. Good morning. Edie's art is fantastical, and fantastic, I def see an affinity between you too. Perhaps small squares are easier to fill, because like a short story (opposed to a novel) you throw down the bones of the story and can leave the flesh off. Shrug. Who knows...just keep doing art.

Add photographer to your resume and start giving out business cards NOW!!! You've got everything it takes - imagination, humour, sensitivity and skill. Your manor house and IG pics should be framed and put in a one-night-only exhibition where casuals and ex-mods can kill each other to buy your art. I would be laughing at the entertainment and running around with a sheet of red dots sticking them on every picture - sold, sold, sold. ha, ha losers!! You KNOW I love the clock pic, the creepy doll beside it is gorgeous! Oh that darling Edie, isn't she magical? Such beautiful paintings and a darling magical creature:). xoxoxoxoox

Your Instagram photos are gorgeous Clare, so atmospheric and moody though I love doggy in a bathcap too! You say you're not feeling creative at the moment but there seems to be creativity in everything you do. You made a great job of the brooch and I love the photo of you at the manor, you look really lovely in that outfit with the fitted jacket and flared skirt and boots. It's so interesting to see that old graffiti, I guess the 'youth of today' have always been dossing around old buildings feeling bored and probably drinking cider or mead or something. I love the flowers around Edie's beautiful print, they seem very fitting, and I must admit I'm quite partial to cuddly toys despite our house being full of millions of my daughter's Me To You bears. That little mouse is very cute indeed. xx

I tend to Vix and Em's view of Instagram, I'm afraid, and get a bit fed up of blog posts filled with blurry photos of someone's lunch or overpriced cappuccino, but your Instagrim version is great! You have an artist's eye, and the pics of Waddesdon are fabulous. As are the Minster Lovell photos. We stopped off there in the summer on our way to Gifford's Circus, and the river and the ruins were rammed with teenagers, it was like some underage festival going on! I suspect it was rather more pleasant to visit when you did! Love the photo of the river through the stonework.The charity shop story surprises me less now I know your were in Witney... Bit posh! You were looking the part, Clare, in your tweed jacket and pearls, but I don't think your naughtiness would fit with the country set! I don't mind cuddly toys as long as they aren't clutching heart-shaped cushions labelled Be my Valentine or some such hideousness. Quirky toys are good, that odd little Japanese creature is adorable. You're adorable! And it won't be long till I see you and you can Instagram our pints in Wetherspoons, ha! xxxxxxx

Hi gorgeous, sorry I've been out of the loop for a while, am trying to at least catch up with everyone's most recent posts before I get around to reading everything else I've missed. Your photos are really really good, you should think about printing them out somehow in a grid like that. You already know my opinions on instagrim but I would be willing to make an exception for you!

Love the ancient graffiti - and also your pic of the naughty cherub who looks like he's drinking a can of beer up on the ledge. Hope you're having a great weekend xxx

Oooh I love everything! Love the church and the ruins, the gorgeous manor pics, YOU in your loveliness, the gorgeous little mouse (want!), the awesome graffiti and my favourite pic of all is the dog in the shower cap - LOVE IT! Come over - I wanna take photos of you! LOVE! Sarah xxx